i was already under threat. am a fighter. in the commons tonight, more chaos and confusion in a vote on fracking, revealing the depth of anger among conservative mps. we'll have all the latest from westminster. also coming up: gunfire we have a special report from the frontline in ukraine's donbas — with russian positions just a few hundred metres away. arms fire came from a russian gutting party, so they've been telling us to get out of here back to the main headquarters. and how a tree farm in scotland could be the key to tackling climate change and biodiversity. hello and welcome to the programme.

it's been another day of unrelenting chaos for the british prime minister, liz truss, and her government. it was just after ii:00pm when reports started coming in about the resignation of suella bravermann, the home secretary. it wasn't long before her resignation letter was made public, containing sweeping criticism of the government. there were also angry scenes in the commons, where senior ministers were accused of manhandling tory mps to make sure they backed the government in a test of loyalty. our political editor, chris mason has the latest from westminster.

tonight at westminster, rolling case studies in chaos — crises engulfing the government by the hour. the home secretary resigns. those at the highest level in government don't even know if others have followed her. at teatime, a man who was rebelling against liz truss just days ago was appointed by her as home secretary. i accept that the government has obviously had a very difficult period. what i do know is that there is a very importantjob to do, people expect their government to ensure there is security for them, the home office is at the heart of that in so many different ways, it is a great office of state, and i'm honoured to do that role. how long can the prime minister last? never mind the prime minister — well, for now at least — it is suella braverman who has gone. this was her yesterday,

today she is out, because this morning she sent an official document from her personal e—mail account — a breach of the rules. in a zinger of a resignation letter to the prime minister, suella braverman wrote, "pretending we haven't made mistakes, carrying on as if everyone can't see that we have made them and hoping that things will magically come right is not serious politics. i have made a mistake, i accept responsibility, i resign " she continues, "i have concerns about the direction of this government — not only have we broken key pledges that were promised to our voters, but i have had serious concerns about this government's commitment to honouring manifesto commitments." last month, suella braverman was promoted to one of the great offices of state. she cheered on a prime minister in trouble at the party conference. today, she becomes

the shortest serving home secretary since the second world war. all that after a summer in which she pitched to be prime minister herself. don't vote for me because i am a woman. don't vote for me because i am brown. vote for me because i love this country and because i would do anything for it. a hellish week for liz truss has got worse. earlier, she had to endure a prime ministers question time loaded with humiliation. a book is being written about the prime minister's time in office. apparently it is going to be out by christmas. is that the release date or the title? i have been in office forjust under two months, and i have delivered the energy price guarantee, i have reversed the national insurance increase. mr speaker, that is more of a record of action and the honourable gentleman in his two and half years in the job.

the prime minister defiant, the labour leader said she had crashed the economy, put bills up and was now cutting spending. and, he said, she ditched everything she had stood for. 45p tax cut, gone. corporation tax cut, gone. 20p tax cut, gone. two year energy freeze, gone! economic credibility, gone! they are all gone! so why�*s she still here?! the prime minister stands up, the folder is slammed down, and liz truss insisted: i am a fighter and not a quitter! but what policies will survive given the new chancellor is looking over all sorts of promises? news from the prime minister — the state pension will rise in line with spiralling prices after all. can the prime minister perhaps turn to a chancellor right now,

get permission to make another u—turn and commit to raising the state pension at the rate of inflation? prime minister! we will maintain the triple lock, i and i am completely committed to it, - so is the chancellor. tonight, the next flashpoint — a vote on fracking, drilling into the land to extract gas — was turned by downing street into a serious test of loyalty in the government itself. division, clear the lobby! compelling conservatives to back it will face being kicked out of the parliamentary party — a weak government attempting a show of strength and then seemingly changing its mind. in the voting lobbies, confusion, tory mps not even knowing the consequence for them of their vote. and afterwards, this extraordinary allegation from a labour mp. i saw members being physically manhandled into another

lobby and being bullied. while crying! if we want to stand up against the bullying in this house of our staff, we have to stop bullying in this chamber as well, don't we? we will have a little bit of good - behaviour for a moment — i on both sides of the house! the mp who it was suggested was manhandled and said he had had what was described as a frank and robust conversation. some conservative mps then told the bbc the chief whip, in charge of party discipline, had resigned — livid at the chaos over whether this was a vote of confidence in the government or not. and then watch this, a senior cabinet minister who didn't know what was going on. i'm not entirely clear on what the situation is with the chief whip, there has been an element of confusion over whether it was a confidence vote or not.

tory mps cannot believe the dysfunction they are witnessing. i think it is a shambles and a disgrace. i think it is utterly appalling. you seem quietly furious. iam livid, and i really shouldn't say this, but i hope all those people that put liz truss in numberten, i hope it was worth it, i hope it was worth it for the ministerial red box, to sit around the cabinet table, because the damage they have done to our party is extraordinary. what is happening with chief whip? it was a great victory today, chief whip, great credit to her. tonight, many senior conservatives gathered at a private members club. is it right to be having champagne while the government is collapsing, sir graham? they don't know, we don't know, how long this government has left. after a day like today, it's life expectancy has shortened further.

a little earlier i asked reem ibrahim, who's a political commentator and young conservative if this is the beginning of the end for liz truss as prime minister. i think we are looking at liz truss�* long—term economic plans and we really would like to see her push forward those free—market reforms within the party but again i think with the direction the party is going and is really quite difficult. we are looking at huge amounts of chaos throughout the past few weeks, a lot of party members are really quite concerned about the direction the party is going in. i the direction the party is going im— the direction the party is going in-— going in. i guess the big question _ going in. i guess the big question is, _ going in. i guess the big question is, who - going in. i guess the big question is, who will. going in. i guess the big - question is, who will replace her in this revolving door of prime ministers? fix, her in this revolving door of prime ministers?— prime ministers? a lot of --eole prime ministers? a lot of people are _ prime ministers? a lot of people are talking - prime ministers? a lot of people are talking about| prime ministers? a lot of- people are talking about rishi sunak as a potential candidate. he obviously lost the conservative election earlier this year. i think what we

really would like is actually that the party members and the conservative mps to be aligned on the. i think a lot of conservative mps tend to be a little bit disconnect it towards the members of the party, but what we really want to see is that connection and that recognition that the party need to be conservative again. underjohnson�*s administration we saw the highest tax band in 70 years. does not really quite conservative about this government at all and what we would really like to see are those tax cuts and those free—market reforms. those tax cuts and those free-market reforms. some would an ue that free-market reforms. some would argue that the _ free-market reforms. some would argue that the country _ free-market reforms. some would argue that the country needs - free-market reforms. some would argue that the country needs a - argue that the country needs a general election, what would you say to that? i general election, what would you say to that?— you say to that? i think that, look, at you say to that? i think that, look. at the _ you say to that? i think that, look, at the moment - you say to that? i think that, look, at the moment what i you say to that? i think that, - look, at the moment what people need is for us to get through this really difficult winter and the cost of living crisis. the rejection of the bill on fracking today is a display of these members of parliament that aren�*t really in touch with the people. we need to increase the supply of energy and order for increase the supply of energy and orderfor us increase the supply of energy and order for us to decrease those prices and in orderfor

us to get there we need to be able to increase that supply and that includes fracking in the short—term. people talk about the environmental impact of fracking but actually what people really need is more of the energy and i think people care less about the environment when they are trying to heat their homes so in the long—term i think an election is not where we need to be at the moment, we need to get things done and get through this really difficult winter. president zelensky has accused russia of destroying three ukrainian energy facilities in the past 2a hours. there are warnings that, from thursday morning, the country�*s entire electricity network could be shut down for up to four hours at a time to limit consumption. heightened security measures have come into force across russia, as president putin tries to shore up his faltering campaign in ukraine. mr putin has also declared martial law in parts of ukraine he recently annexed. the four regions affected

are donetsk, luhansk, kherson and zaporizhzhia. 0ur correspondent jonathan beale reports from the frontline in the donbas, a warning that his piece contains distressing images. the road of retreat. a dead end for some, where these russian forces met their own armageddon. the carcasses of tanks, armoured vehicles and bloated dead bodies scatter the ground of the recently liberated east. a village now the new front line for these ukrainian troops. artillery still within range of russian artillery, the signature sound of this war. russian positions are just 500 metres away. you can see they�*re getting telling us to get down here. come on, let�*s go. but this war also involves close quarters combat, as we�*re about to find out.

gunfire shouting gunfire a grenade�*s fired into the tree line from where the russians were firing. as we make a speedy exit. let�*s get out. we�*re getting out of here. some small arms fire, probably from a russian scouting party. so they�*ve been telling us to get out of here back to the main headquarters.

russian forces have been trying to outflank them. gunfire radio chatter many of these troops only volunteered at the start of the war. months of fighting has transformed them into a professional army. but these counterattacks are slowing their advance. the captain told me they need more army and they are waiting for reinforcements. they are testing supply lines. with most

bridges are flown they have had to rely on amphibian crafts to feed the frontline. they have onlyjust feed the frontline. they have only just completed feed the frontline. they have onlyjust completed the construction of this new crossing. ukraine is still advancing but it is getting harder. jonathan beale, bbc news, donbas. you�*re watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: we�*ll tell you how a tree farm in scotland could hold the key to tackling climate change. a historic moment that many of his victims have waited for for decades — the former dictator in the dock, older, slimmer and, as he sat down, obedient enough. dawn, and as the sun breaks through the piercing chill of night

on the plain outside korum, it lights up a biblical famine now, in the 20th century. the depressing conclusion — in argentina today, - it is actually cheaper— to paper your walls with money. we�*ve had controversies in the past with great britain but as good friends, we have always found a good and lasting solution. concorde bows out in style. after almost three decades in service, an aircraft that has enthralled its many admirers for so long taxis home one last time. this is newsday on the bbc. i�*m in singapore. 0ur headlines: the uk government has been

engulfed in further chaos after the home secretary resigned and launched an attack on liz truss�*s premiership. let�*s stay with our main story. aubrey allegretti, who�*s a political reporter with the guardian newspaper, broke the story that the uk home secretary had resigned. i asked him if this is the end of the line for liz truss as prime minister. that is certainly the growing view of the ministers and cabinet ministers, and they probably remember people but the greatest ability and power to force a liz truss out of office. now, of course, the prime minister is immune from a vote of no—confidence by her party for ii vote of no—confidence by her party for 11 months which means there is no mechanism to get read of her. also, quite a lot of division over which candidate will be best placed to succeed her because mps are worried about spinning the roulette wheel again and endicott with somebody worse or

more predictable. the biggest power at the moment lies with more cabinet ministers if they decide to get the home secretary at the door, it will be curtains for this trust. this be curtains for this trust. as ou be curtains for this trust. as you said. — be curtains for this trust. as you said. a _ be curtains for this trust. as you said, a lot of speculation if someone was to replace liz truss who without would be. what are the rumours? what are you hearing? mi what are the rumours? what are you hearing?— you hearing? all sorts of names are bein: you hearing? all sorts of names are being touted _ you hearing? all sorts of names are being touted here. - you hearing? all sorts of names are being touted here. the - you hearing? all sorts of names| are being touted here. the ones that have the most precedents are rishi sunak who was the former chancellor and ran against liz truss for the leadership and lost in the contest over the summer and borisjohnson, surprisingly, the former prime minister. why those two names you might ask? well, mps are very concerned about the optics of what it will look like replacing the leader again so they will have been two prime ministers since the last one got any kind of direct mandate at a general

election. so, they are trying to think about who person that they could get would be who would still allow them to stave off course for a snap general election. rishi sunak they argue would have a mandate because he still performed quite well in the final two in the contest over the summer. meanwhile, borisjohnson meanwhile, boris johnson obviously, meanwhile, borisjohnson obviously, well, he has a mandate because he won the 2019 general election with a landslide for the conservatives. both those names, though, quite problematic. borisjohnson was forced out of office and rishi sunak lost the contest to liz truss. then you look at other names and they are perhaps penny morton, the common leader who came third. she is seen as a unifying figure or perhaps ben wallace, the defence secretary who did not run for the leadership over the summer and there were rumours about why that might be but the short answer is there our names belittle agreements. i5

answer is there our names belittle agreements. is the possibility _ belittle agreements. is the possibility of _ belittle agreements. is the possibility of general - possibility of general election. i possibility of general election.— possibility of general election. ., election. i would say the possibility _ election. i would say the possibility of _ election. i would say the possibility of a _ election. i would say the possibility of a general. possibility of a general election anytime soon is very slim. the government have introduced something called the fixed terms parliament act which meant that terms work fixed and happening every five years. the previous government scrapped that which gave it v—power again to call a general elections whenever it wanted. so, that remains within the prime minister�*s gift. it is very, very, if not completely possible that liz truss would call an election because the conservatives are at least 30 points behind opinion polls. mps feel that of the 200 of them could lose their seats at them could lose their seats at the other party of around 370, so a huge lost, the biggest the party would receive literally decades. that means that it is more likely that the conservatives will try and hold on, hold the never get as close

to january 2025 is possible which is the latest that calling a general election can be held but that does mean, of course, liz truss can cling on at least for another 11 months before mps try and oust her so there is a lot in fluctuation at the moment. let�*s take a look at some other stories in the headlines. president biden says the us will sell off a further 15 million barrels of crude oil from its emergency supplies. the release is meant to prevent prices rising after the oil—producing nations, led by saudi arabia, said they would cut production. president biden called on american oil companies to pass on lower prices to consumers. the united states has warned tehran that the world will be watching how it treats the iranian climber elnaz rekabi, who has returned home after competing abroad without a headscarf. earlier, large crowds turned out to greet ms rekabi at tehran airport. at least eight people have been

killed in explosions at a notorious prison in myanmar. the blasts are thought to have been caused by parcel bombs, which tore through an office where mail is sorted. many of those held in the prison were detained for resisting the army coup last year. the world health organization has announced that a shortage of cholera vaccines has prompted a shift in strategy to using a single dose, rather than two. the agency says there has been an unprecedented rise in outbreaks of the water—borne disease worldwide. 29 countries have reported cases this year. new technology is being used to grow trees at a super—fast rate at a vertical farm near dundee in scotland. it could be the key to tackling climate change and biodiversity. wendy urquhart reports. scotts pine, 0ak, elder hazel and birch seedlings are growing

to between a0 and 50 cm tall and just 90 days at this verticalfarm. that is six times quicker if they were planted outside and nobody is more surprised than the people in charge of the project. initial results were astonishing to be honest with you. we obviously had to find a prescription for individual species and differences between conifers and broad leaves. but once we got that sorted we were into the really fine tuning stuff. and it has been remarkable really. they did it by tweaking the soil, light, water and nutrition recipe for each different type of tree during every trial. and they got the best possible results. in these machines everything that affects the place is in a recipe. so basically it has all of the lighting events, weather events for example, the watering events, inspections, science events, everything that interacts with the plant

is in this recipe. the trees are planted in soil trays then moved around as they grow so that they get exactly the right amount of light and water. this project also uses a lot less water than plants grown in poly—tunnels or glass houses. and the water on the vertical farm is recycled so nothing is wasted. when the seedlings are ready, they are transferred to a nursery and eventually planted out in the forest. igs and forestry land scotland reckon they can grow between three and 5 million trees every 90 days. which is great news for the environment and a huge step forward in the fight against climate change. wendy urquhart, bbc news. and just before we go, we have one more story to bring you. one of the most iconic paintings of 20th century british art, ls lowry�*s going to the match has been sold at auction for a

record—breaking $8.81 million. the 1953 artwork features lowry�*s emblematic stick figures, set in an industrial landscape of north—west england. in this case, a crowd of people heading to a football match in bolton. it was bought by the lowry arts centre in manchester, which means the painting will remain in britain and accessible to the public. that�*s it from the programme. thank you so much for watching. hello. wednesday brought a top temperature of 22 celsius in jersey. it was a warm day for some, but a wet day for others, and that is all because of this big, broad area of low pressure, really the engine room of our weather at the moment. it�*s been sucking warm air of from the south, but it�*s also been throwing pulses

of rain northwards and it will continue to do so. a soggy start to thursday for many, but a mild start. some of the heaviest rain through the morning will be found across the southeast of england, up into east anglia, the east midlands, then into lincolnshire and parts of yorkshire. but some of that rain likely to get as far west as east wales and parts of the west country. this lump, though, of really heavy rain will work its way northward through the day, essentially hugging this north sea coast, so running into north east england and southeast scotland. all the while, things brightening up from northern ireland — a much drier day to come here. some sunny spells developing for wales and the south and southwest of england. not as windy as it was on wednesday and still quite warm. actually, temperatures through south wales, southwest england and the channel islands could well get close to 20 degrees. but into the evening, this lump of very heavy rain justjourneys northwards across scotland. it may tend to ease a little as the night wears on as we get into the first part of friday, then another swirl of showers pushes in from the southwest. it does feel a little relentless in terms of these

weather systems pushing up from the south, but it will be another mild start to the day. low pressure�*s still in charge for friday, quite a few white lines, isobars, squeezing together here — that shows that we will have some really strong winds. a windier day on friday, certainly around some of these western coats. showers or longer spells of rain with some thunder and lightning drifting northwards, some spells of sunshine in between. these are the wind gusts. we can expect winds gusting up to around 50 mph for some of these exposed coasts of southwest england and west wales. but that wind direction is a warm wind direction, so where you see some sunshine in east anglia, highs perhaps of 21 degrees and a fairly warm day elsewhere as well. into the weekend, this first low will weaken a little, drifting northwards. there�*s another one hot on its heels. in between, though, this brief range of higher pressure, so a slice of something a little drier. i think we can say for the weekend, there will be some drier interludes, but still the chance of some rain at times. bye for now.

this is bbc news. we will have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour straight after this programme. you could never be great. for me school didn�*t really work. i went to six secondary schools and moved from a lot of schools. when i looked through textbooks in school everybody that achieved, no—one ever looked like me. it kind of made you feel that